James



I No Model.)

- J. APPLETON.

STEAM AGTUATED VALVE. No. 601.227. Patented Mar. -2 9, 1898.

no. nonrus PE/YERS 00.. mom-Mme" wuuwa'mr a c.

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

JAMES APPLETON, OF SALFORD, ENGLAND.

-STEAM-ACTUATED VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 601 ,227, dated March 29, 1898. Application fil d December 29,1897. Serial No. 664,219. (No model.) Patented in England May 28, 1897,No.13,177.

T0 or whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES APPLETON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Salford, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve-Gears for Prime Movers, of which the following is a specifica .limit myself to this application alone, as the same is applicable to prime movers generally in which valves of the type hereinafter described are employed, and in order that my said invention may be completely understood I will now describe the same with reference to the annexed sheet of drawings.

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the steam-cylinder of a pump fitted with my improved valve-gear. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same.

The cylinder A in Figs. 1 and 2 is formed with the usual steam-ports a a and exhaustport I). The steam and exhaust ports are governed by the valve 0, which is disposed between and operated by the pistons d c. The pistons 01 e work fluid-tight within the steam-chest B. A screw e, (see Fig. 2,)projecting into a groove cut in the slide-valve c, prevents the valve from turning round. This piston-valve is of the ordinary construction and in itself forms no part of my invention, which consists only in the simplified method of operating the valve. To effect this, I provide the covers A A of the steam-cylinder A with short cylinders f g, securely screwed to the covers. Within the cylinders f g are two chambers, (marked f f in the sectional view of the cylinder f.)

Steam is admitted to the steam-chest B by the pipe 71. Pipes h k conduct steam from the interior of thesteam-chest to one of the chambers of the cylinders f g. This is shown at f in the sectional view of the cylinder f, and a corresponding chamber is formed within the cylinder g. Communication between the chambers f f is governed by means of a-valve i, mounted on a valve-spindle i, which passes through a packedgland i and is provided at the outer end with a handle i A spring j is provided the tendency of which is to maintain the valve '0' upon its seat. The chamber f communicates, by means of apipe k, to the back of the piston d, while a similar pipe Z is ,provided to communicate between the corresponding chamber in the cylinder 9 and the back of the piston c.

The cylinder g is shown in outside View; but it will be understood that the interior arrangement is exactly similar to the cylinder f. The valve-spindle 2' is screwed or otherwise secured to a tappet m, projecting within the cylinder A, and which is capable of sliding in a bearing formed within the cylinder f. If preferred, the tappet m may be formed in one with the valve-spindle i. A similar tappet is also secured to the valve-spindle of the cylinder g.

p v The working of the valve-gear is as follows: As shown in the drawings, the valve is on a dead-center and both steam-ports are closed.

-It is considered impossible that on the stopping of the pump the piston-valve should ever remain on a dead-center,-and in the ordinary working of the pump the piston-valve must of neoessity'be always at the end of its stroke,

In case, however, when fitting or repairing the pump the valve should be left in the position indicated means are provided to readily operate the valve manually to effect the start ing of the pump. To do this it would be necessary manually to operate the handle of one of the valve-spindles of the cylinders f or 9. Suppose steam be admitted to the steam-chest B and the valve-spindle a" be pulled forward by means of the handle '5 The valve a is therefore pulled ofi its seat, allowing steam toenter the chamber f from the chamber f ,which is supplied with steam from the steam-chest by the pipe h, as already described. The handle i is then released, the spring j, assisted by the steam-pressure within the chamber as will be seen from the following description.

f, returning the valve to its seat. The steam thus admitted to the chamber f passes along the pipe k to the back of the piston 61, which is thus flashed to the end of the valve-chestand thus opens the steam-port a to steam. Upon reaching the end of its stroke the steam behind the piston d exhausts along the port (1 to the main exhaust-port Z). The port a being thus opened to steam, the piston O is traversed to the end of its stroke, when it comes into contact with the tappet n and automatically opens the valve on the valvespindle within the cylinder 9. Steam is then admitted to the back of the piston c, which is thus flashed forward, opening the port a to steam and the port a to exhaust. The steam behind the piston e is exhausted by the port 6 into the main exhaust-port b.

The springs within the cylinders f g, assisted by the pressure of steam behind the valves, return the valves to their seats immediately the tappets are released from contact with the piston C. The handles on the valve-spindles are also utilized to grind the valves upon their seats.

It will be seen, therefore, that each forward and backward stroke of the piston C is utilized to operate the tappets mn, and thus admit steam alternately to the back of the pistons d e, and thus effect the working of the piston-valve. The traverse of the pistonvalve is extremely rapid, providing for a quick opening of the ports to steam,and thus effectually preventing wiredrawing. No

matter what may be the position of the piston C 011 the stopping of the pump the piston-Valve would be at the end of its stroke and one or other of the steam-ports be left open to steam, ready for the restarting of the pump. The cushioning of the steam behind the pistons (l c prevents their too abrupt contact with the ends of the steam-chest B.

In case the valve 0 and pistons d a should stick after a long rest or disuse of the pump I provide means whereby they may be readily loosened. To this end I provide a handle 0, secured to a spindle 1), working in a gland formed in the steam-chest B. The other end of the spindle 2) is provided with a lever q, disposed between the pistons (Z c, as shown clearly in Fig. 1.

By operating the handle 0 the valve and pistons may be reeiprocated within the valvechest until the same work freely therein.

I declare that what I claim is- In combination, the cylinder and valvechamber, the small cylinders f and g at opposite ends of the cylinder, valve-seats in said small cylinders, spring-pressed valves therein having rods or tap pets extending into the cylinder, steam-supply pipes communicating with said small cylinders in rear of the valves, and pipes leading from the cylinders in front of the valves to the respective ends of the valve-chamber, substantially described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES APPLETON.

Witnesses:

JOSHUA ENTWISLE, A. S. YATES. 

